Train company to axe toilets.
 

The Southern Railway Company has commissioned new trains on the Portsmouth to Brighton line that have no onboard toilets.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-11358844

They say this is because the carriages are designed to maximise space available to passengers, but, tbh, I suspect a lot of passengers (particularly the Elderly, those with kids or the disabled) would prefer the toilets back.

The journey is 1.5 hours. I personally think that *any* company selling journeys likely to be that long should be required to provided adequate toilet facilities.

Re: Train company to axe toilets.
 

I think you might find that there will be a few wet seats on these trains

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How much space DOES a toilet take up, 2 seats worth? 3? Money making in my view and it's pathetic.

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Hmm! I wonder how they got it past the 'elf and safety bods?

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Money talks ;)

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I have to pee once an hour because I have to stay hydrated. This is dumb.

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I would say that there taking the pee, but I guess not if they have no toilets :D

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In the Times yesterday one of the reasons stated for this was that one of the OfRail (or whatever it's called) measurement stats was customer complaints about the cleanliness of the loos, and if they were working/available - it was assumed this was one of the ways of making sure they were not marked down on this.

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Well all I can say on their own heads be it.

Having done a journey back in the 70s on a train from Fareham to Bristol with no toilet where one chap was violently sick and had to vomit out of the window..I think they might find having to clean up the trains even more labour intensive than they expect.

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True, but I think they should be marked down on this. It's all very well providing a lack of toilet facilities on local commuter services (many of which are less than 40 minutes long), but quite unacceptable expecting passengers on longer journeys to wait. Especially if they are kids, elderly, disabled or have some other legitimate medical reason to go to the toilet regularly.

Still, the Transport industry in general has long had the same attitude to the disabled. That attitude can be expressed in two words, one of which begins with F and the other is You. They've spent decades doing the minimum required by law to enable the disabled to use their services. This is no different.

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Or they are ill.

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I would count that as a legitimate medical reason.

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I need to pee..and I'm only reading the story :D

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I don't think people have got all the facts here .
These new trains have been in operation since march according to SR site ,they are refurbished coaches taken from london overground and are only being used on short haul trips ,looking at the time table for these new coaches the max trip is only 45mins Brighton to Littlehampton

Whic h routes will these trains be used for?

From 23 May 2010, Class 313s will be used between Monday and
Friday to operate:

•

•

Morning

0557 Brighton – Littlehampton (45 minute journey)
0600 Brighton – Lewes (15 minute journey)
0626 Lewes - Brighton
0722 Littlehampton - Brighton
0722 Brighton – Lewes
0758 Lewes – Brighton
0822 Brighton – Lewes
0846 Lewes - Brighton
0823 Brighton – West Worthing (28 minute journey)

0909 West Worthing – Brighton

Why don’t the Class 313 trains have toilets?

The Class 313 trains did not have toilets when were used by London
Overground and this type of train was not built or designed to have
toilets on board. We know this may be inconvenient, but we will make
sure that we let you know which services don’t have toilets and provide
information on where facilities are available at stations on your journey.
We are also looking for ways to improve our facilities, including longer

opening hours and toilets at more stations.

full passenger info on new trains here

http://www.southernrailway.com/downl...senger-leaflet

seems to that the beeb and everyone else have fell for some Bob Crow scare mongering

Quote:

But RMT general secretary Bob Crow said the 'unacceptable' development runs the risk of turning train carriages into 'stinking cattle trucks' that present passengers and staff with appalling conditions.

Re: Train company to axe toilets.
 

Ah that on the other hand is fine - there are plenty of short haul trains here in London on the loops that have similar journey times and don't have bathrooms.

Thanks for the clarification - this is a non-issue whatever Comrade Crow may say.

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why does this make me think of that idiotic RyanAir

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what ever happened to customer care.

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I think it went down the toilet :D

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Can I just point out that the London Underground trains have no toilets, and there are very few (if any?) at the stations. It is easy to spend more than an hour on these trains; quite often I travel to Heathrow on the Victoria and Piccadilly lines, and if you include the interchanges and waiting for the correct train, the journey can take almost two hours. More, of course, if there are delays.

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i think its well not right. all trains should have toilets.

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Yep. I know. I think the provision of toilets on Public Transport as a whole is rather pathetic. And I know how long one can be on the tube for. When my sister was in hospital at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital near Edgware, on nights when I wasn't working (I was a student and worked all the hours I could), I was getting the train from Woolwich to Charing Cross or London Bridge, and then getting the Jubiliee Line to Stanmore or Northern Line to Edgware road (as appropriate). Assuming there were no problems, the journey across London was nearly an hour.

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I'd stay well clear of any bottles of pop you find near the trackside.

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I remember Southern raising this a couple of years ago for the Brighton to Victoria line, the most profitable line in the country, but then it was shelved with the company saying they wouldn't introduce "toilet-less" trains on routes of over 45 minuets...obviously Southern are not to worried about upsetting train users between B'ton and Pompey.

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Well Pompey to Brighton is a fairly short journey..and it will be about an hour and a half but it's probably a bit too long for some folk.What happens if there are delays?

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Where's the reference to Southern having trains with no bathrooms on the Brighton <> Pompey link?

I don't see where they've broken their note on no bathrooms on journeys over 45 minutes.

Where's the fire behind the smoke people, the only actual link here is one that isn't really particularly interesting. People drive for 45+ minutes in between service stations with no way of going to the bathroom.

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There's no way I'll get on a train without a toilet. I very rarely use them when I do go on the trains but just the thought of not being able to go would be enough for me. It'll be my worst nightmare to honest, having Crohn's disease and stuck for 90 minutes without access would be too much.

It's different in a car, as you know you can stop whenever you like, but it's the fear that gets you when you know you can't just stop the train.

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Yes, that is the point..knowing there is no where to go..might make people want more

And I can't tie a knot in it..I've never been good with tweasers :D

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Second paragraph down in the BBC link.

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AH-ha, thank you.

85 minutes. Hmm that's stretching things somewhat, given in that time I've usually drunk about a litre of water.

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Why does anyone think a Class 313 is the 'latest' train? They're the oldest units in regular use, barring the odd special case.

What's slightly more pressing is that it's quite possible that the current train fleet is going to keep going for about 30-40 years without replacement - the new petrolhead Transport Secretary (who doesn't know why cars have to wait for trains at level crossings and thinks road tax still exists) is an anti-rail Thatcherite millionaire put in the job to cut back on railway investment.

Against that, therefore, the cross-legged commuters of Brighton should be thankful they've got trains at all.

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It sounds as if there is a chance we could go back to steam and the "big four".:)

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After seeing the state of the toilets on the East Midland Trains 153 and 156's I think i'll work on my leg crossing technique!

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My we are feeling bitter.

As a reminder the rolling stock is bought / leased by the operators and nothing to do with the government, beyond that the previous one dissuaded investment in rolling stock through regulatory uncertainty.

This government has also committed itself to maintaining infrastructure investment after this financial year, specifically including establishing a high-speed rail network.

Of course, again, if you've some evidence to the contrary beyond a pathological dislike for the Tories or indeed any politics not strongly left-wing that would be good to see.

Re: Train company to axe toilets.
 

For completeness I did have a quick look into the anti-rail Thatcherite millionaire petrolhead Transport Secretary put in the job to cut back on railway investment.

I am struggling a bit here - perhaps you could help me out BBKing?

From the BBC regarding an additional runway for Heathrow:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8678282.stm

From the DfT:

http://www.dft.gov.uk/press/speeches...ammond20100726

He may be a millionaire Jaguar driving petrolhead however cutting back on railway investment doesn't appear to be a documented plan. Though as noted before this is irrelevant to the situation as rolling stock is nothing to do with government railway investment beyond subsidies which are handed out to prop up some operators' revenues.

Re: Train company to axe toilets.
 

Ever been on the London Underground?

Re: Train company to axe toilets.
 

Or Overground, or the Hounslow and Chiswick loops?